Many semiconductor devices are made from silicon crystals. Typically, the crystal is cut into slices, so-called wafers. During processing of a wafer, multiple instances of semiconductor devices, for example, integrated circuits are formed on the wafer. Each semiconductor device such as each integrated circuit defines an active area on the wafer. While the wafer is destined to be divided into a plurality of dice as separate semiconductor products, the dice, or “dice-to-be”, define separate die areas on the wafer that each can include one or more active areas. Herein, for simplicity, an active area will also be referred to as die area or chip area; it should however be understood a die area or chip area may include a plurality of semiconductor devices such as several integrated circuits within one active area or located in several active areas. Thus, multiple die areas are created on the wafer.
In a later step in processing the wafer, wafer material is removed from some of the spaces between die areas, whereby trenches are formed in the wafer, along so-called scribe lines. Typically, the multiple die areas provided on the wafer are eventually separated from one another by breaking, sawing, or cutting the wafer along the scribe lines to form so-called dice that respectively comprise a semiconductor device such as an integrated circuit.
Wafer dicing is a process by which dice are separated from a wafer of semiconductor following the processing of the wafer. The dicing process can be accomplished by scribing and breaking, by mechanical sawing, by dicing after grinding, by etching or by laser cutting. The dice are, for example, each set to a die frame that holds the dice during further steps of manufacturing the circuit chips. Following the dicing process the individual silicon chips are encapsulated into and/or provided onto chip carriers such as packages, printed circuit boards, component housings, and the like, which are then suitable for use in building electronic devices such as computers, etc.
Typically, in addition to the semiconductor devices such as integrated circuits formed on the dice, herein also referred to as “die-semiconductor devices” and “die-integrated circuit”, respectively, other structures are formed on the wafer, for example, for use in wafer testing, for example other circuitry. Eventually, e.g., in a finished integrated chip product, the other structures such as circuitry can be dispensed with. The other structures, herein also referred to as “wafer-circuitry”, can be allocated in scribe line portions of the wafer. Allocating the wafer-circuitry in a scribe line portion can be problematic, though, since not every method of separating the dice-to-be of the wafer so as to form dice can be performed with the other structure's metal elements and the wafer-circuitry's metal. In some solutions wafer-circuitry is disposed in dedicated portions of the wafer, also referred to as drop-in chips. As the name suggests, drop-in chips cannot also be used to yield semiconductor device products.